Mission From God
by Lorelei Utahime
Summary: A woman, driven by her ambition, sets out to prove her worth once more, and regain the favor of the man she thought was 'God'. Guren-centric oneshot, set around Episode 92 of Shippuden.


_I may have to reconsider._

The words rung through her head like the bells of a dream, pealing from the steeple of the ethereal castle, where fairy tales and hope and everything else foolish and improbable sprung eternal. No. It must be the rampant adrenaline that was mixing strongly with the errant endorphins that were coursing through her body--making for a cocktail of euphoria that all of her senses were drinking deeply, intoxicating her with feeling. It had to be this sensory drunkenness that was making her aurally hallucinate. The bodily overload she felt from standing this close to the most important thing in her life.

And she knew. _Knew_ he couldn't be saying those words to her. She had missed her chance, hadn't she? A moment too late, a breath too long, standing in the dark corridor as he walked past.. Eyes never looking to her, not even noticing. She had lost her chance, and that boy, that crimson-eyed boy...had taken her place, hadn't he?

This had to be a dream. It couldn't be real. There wasn't any way that it could at any time be anything but an illusion.

But yet, as her eyes were snared by the aurelian gaze that now filled their vision, she knew that it couldn't be anything else but the truth.

Her body went numb, as she stood, entranced by his presence; her eyes never leaving his. In the back of her mind, an image surfaced; of their first meeting, in the burning ruins of her village. The phantom lick of flames bathed across her skin, making the deadened nerves flare to life, turning her skin to gooseflesh, and boiling away the euphoric liquor in her veins, heated and replaced by a burning desire.

The scene played out, as it always did, and always would---as it had that day, and would every day in her memory. His lips close to her ear, his breath hot and sweet like the first night of summer, thick with the fragrance of the earth. A voice rich and beautiful, it could only have come from something otherworldly, a beguiler in pale human flesh, who made the world stand on end with his very act of being. The scintillating heat from the flames around him dimmed and chilled in light of his presence, and she sat, as the mouse to the snake, paralyzed in fear and glory.

_The power you have. I'm interested._

Her breath caught, and her heart seemed to hold, her entire body waiting for what he would say next. The words of her absolution, the words that would baptise her, and start her anew.

_Come with me._

It had begun then. Watching the scene meld back into the present, the desire flared violently, like a brushfire in the arms of the sirocco, setting her entire soul ablaze with the fires of obsession. Her dream that began on that day was the same even now, and would never change as long as she drew breath. There was no other path or purpose in her mind. There was only to be as he was--to possess the power that had entranced her so, to exist as he existed--in omnipotent splendor; perfect without peer. To be everything he had ever been, and everything he ever would be.

To be _his. Completely._

His gaze released her, and she felt her own eyes close, the paralysis fading into a strange, almost shimmering feeling upon her nerve endings, shivering like the seeds upon dandelion puffs before the autumn wind, a chill and excitement still lingering in every synapse. His footfalls, dragging away from her formed a counter-rhythm to the erratic beat of her heart, a stability to her madness. As it had always been, he was her center, her ground.

Vaguely, she heard him stop. His voice began once more, the silver sound, like the voice of God, of angels, of everything halcyon and glorious, and she felt her body return to clarity, if only because of the words. The world seemed to right itself upon his every breath, and her eyes opened, looking at the lithe silhouette against the shadow of the forests.

_I may have to reconsider which one of you is best suited to be my vessel...._

Her eyes widened, and her pulse quickened, which was something she did not believe was humanly possible, but here it was--and it was because of him--it had to be an act of God--

_But only...._

These words reached her ears, and signaled to her lungs, making her breath catch--the same anticipatory feeling, the standing upon the precipice, like a flower growing over the edge, suspended into space--

_If you complete this mission for me. This mission, that only you can do._

_Complete it, and I will decide._

With these words, he vanished, and she felt something surge within her, and break---like a tide against the shore, the beads of the shattered water glittering like diamonds within the salt-ridden air. The wave of anticipation had crested and died, leaving nothing but a sparkling eagerness upon the coast of her soul, that shone through the rest of her form, bringing a current of joy and exhilaration.

He'd forgiven her failure, he would give her a second chance. The crimson-eyed demon, the one who had haunted her mind like a cursed spirit, would no longer shadow her steps, and hinder her advancement. Hinder her life's true purpose.

Obsession's pyre within her exploded to her limbs--to an inferno of determination. She set her jaw.

She'd been given a holy mission. And she would complete it, if only for the chance to taste nirvana. If only for the promise of bliss.

She would see this to fruition, even if Hell, in any form, whether enemy ninja, or Uchiha Sasuke should bar the way.

None would stop the vessel of God.


End file.
